An Analysis of Natural Factors Affecting the Dispersal and Establishment of Iron Age III (800-550 B.C) Settlements in the Western Zayandeh-Rud River Basin (West and Northwest of Isfahan)

Abstract

Humans are always effect to their surroundings, which makes it possible to create habitable environments and create habitat patterns that fit the surrounding environment. The interaction between human being and environment either in the form of human effect on the environment or the environment effect on the human, cannot be considered out of the environment. According to this approach in archaeology, environmental factors have an important role in assessing settlements in each period. In addition to the recognition of the degree of environmental impact, this approach makes the degree of adaptation of the habitats with the dominant environmental conditions possible. As geospatial tools become more powerful, GIS archaeology has evolved as well, making it possible to visualize ancient settlements and analyze changes in the use of space over time. By incorporating historic map data, physical details of an area’s landscape and known information about past inhabitants, archaeologists can accurately predict the positions of sites with cultural, historical relevance. In this research Iron Age III (800-550 B.C )sites in the west and northwest of Isfahan were studied via GIS. The area studied is one of the most important but unknown areas of archaeological research due to its location in the center of the Iranian plateau and a link between the north-west and the south-west of the country. The environmental characteristics of the studied area have attracted the attention of humans since ancient times.Therefore, it was considered necessary to conduct archaeological excavations. To achieve this goal, the area was first studied archaeologically. As a result of this survey, approximately 50 ancient sites were identified which included the statistical population used for analysis.The effect of environmental variables including altitude, slope (percentage and direction), climate,geological structure, distances and proximity to water resources, land use and proximity to communication paths on the distribution of settlements in the study area was investigated. Through analytical-descriptive method, the factors affecting the formation and distribution of the establishment patterns of the period in question were examind. After analyzing the information and maps, the results indicated that among all the factors, three environmental factors were the most important in the formation of ancient settlements of the Iron Age III era in the west and northwest of Isfahan: factors relating to water resources,proximity to communication paths, and slope percentage and direction.